


Why I Cannot Personify

by Optronix



Series: A Collection of Hidden Figures-Inspired Poetry [5]
Category: Hidden Figures (2016)
Genre: 1950s, Black Women Mathematicians, Comparison Poetry, NACA, NASA, POV First Person, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-30 01:04:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19031581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Optronix/pseuds/Optronix





	Why I Cannot Personify

I will never truly be able

to understand their life,

their story;

I will never truly relate to their history,

their narrative,

their struggle,

because I am not a black woman.

 

I am a white, straight, cis-woman

who has easy access to

a college education, 

with little boundaries 

standing the way of

my success and my dreams.

 

Because of this,

I cannot personify the 

ground-breaking,

glass-shattering

brilliant black women 

who forever changed history.

 

Instead, I will learn

as much as I can about

the lives they led

and the legacy they

have left behind.

The legacy that can

now be seen when

someone walks through the

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

in Langley, Virginia.


End file.
